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Monthly Archives: September 2013

Anyone who suspects that they have a mold problem inside their home should contact a mold remediation and removal company as soon as possible. Fast action is required whenever mold is suspected and especially if the home has recently had a flooding problem or some type of water loss. It is never advisable to tackle a mold problem on your own as mold can pose very serious health risks. It can be very difficult for the average homeowner to find mold inside their home that may be hidden from view. While you could clean up a small, isolated area of mold yourself, a large area of mold or several areas inside your home with visible mold spores should be handled by a professional mold remediation company.

While it is common to smell the musty odor of mold, it can be problematic to find the source of the mold. This is because mold often grows in inaccessible areas inside the home such as behind walls & baseboards, in crawlspaces and attics and above suspended ceilings. Sometimes, the only way homeowners realize they have a mold problem is because they’re having breathing difficulties while inside the home but the respiratory problem seems to clear up when they leave and worsen again upon returning to the home.

When you hire a professional mold remediation company, a certified mold expert will arrive at your home to access the problem. Testing of the premises will be done to determine what type of mold is present and to create a plan of action. This air and surface testing for mold is done so the experts can develop an effective mold eradication plan. The end goal is to properly identify the mold, find where it’s growing and then to eradicate it in a safe and effective manner. Surfaces inside the home which had mold on them will be cleaned (or removed and disposed of) to ensure that no mold spores are left behind.

Not only is mold testing an essential part of the mold remediation protocol, but it is also necessary after the mold cleanup is complete. Most mold experts suggest that the home be tested following the eradication process to ensure that the mold was effectively cleaned and removed. The post-process mold testing usually consists of testing the air for microscopic mold spores to find out if any mold spores are still present in the air.

Signs that indicate that mold may be present inside a structure may include seeing mold growing on surfaces, smelling a strong musty odor, excessive humidity and evidence of past moisture problems that could have caused undetected mold to grow. If you suspect that you have a mold problem, it’s highly advisable to contact a mold removal company asap because some types of molds are very toxic and pose a great health risk to people inside the building.

In some water damage situations, the experts at a mold removal company can safely restore your home or business by identifying and removing the mold. In other situations, an indoor air quality professional may be needed to come and perform an air quality test to determine the mold concentration. By inspecting and testing the structure for mold, the indoor air quality professional will come up with a remediation protocol for the mold removal company to follow which guides them through the process of safely and effectively removing the mold-damaged materials to ensure that all the mold is eradicated from the premises.

An indoor air quality expert will examine the levels of mold contamination on porous, semi-porous and non-porous materials. These experts use a variety of tools to carry out mold testing and all testing procedures used strictly adhere to testing protocols set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA. The structure may be inspected visually, it may be swabbed in certain areas and air samples may be taken in the attic or between the walls. Often air sample testing is done throughout the premises if a widespread mold problem is suspected so that it can determined if elevated levels of mold spores are present.

Once the structure has been assessed and tested by the indoor air quality professional, a mold remediation company is given a full mold report by the expert. This report helps the mold removal professionals to develop an appropriate course of action to ensure that all the mold is located, cleaned up and removed. It is common for mold remediation companies to remove mold damaged materials from the premises such as drywall, wallpaper and curtains as often these types of porous materials become so badly damaged by mold that they’re deemed ruined.